by John Booth
Cam blinked in astonishment as an enormous fox appeared in the air thirty feet above where she lay. The fox resolved into some kind of painted sausage shaped balloon with windows near its belly, as her eyes finally made sense of the impossibility of it. She saw Tom and Laura wave at her through the window before Tom turned on his heels and disappeared into the bowels of the ship.
Tom and Dougal jumped from the Hubris and ran towards Cam. She began to feel faint as blood poured from her wound.
As Tom knelt to heal her, Dougal saw Trelawney, Arnold and a girl who could only be Andrea running towards them.
“Lord McBride, you got my message I see.” Trelawney took a good look at the airship. “That is a highly decorative paint scheme you have there.”
“It’s a long story,” Dougal said wearily.
Arnold stood next to Annelise Shultz’s body, his gun in his hand, looking around warily for any other threat. The massive airship spooked him, its hovering being so unnatural. He kept glancing at it, expecting it to fall to the ground at any second.
Camilla moaned and Tom slumped in front of her. Dougal stepped towards his friend and Trelawney knelt to hold Camilla. Her wound was healed, but she had lost a lot of blood.
Arnold never heard Annelise move. One moment he stood over her, the next he was on the ground in front of her and she had taken possession of his gun.
“Gut,” Annelise said in English. “A six shooter will work out perfectly. Now I vill consider vich one of you to shoot first.”
“I think the Healer.” Her gun changed its point of aim.
A small red rose bloomed on Annelise’s forehead as a single shot from a Gatling Gun killed her. Tom turned his head and waved towards the airship.
“Thanks, Ebb.”
Trelawney looked puzzled. “An eleven year old boy just saved our lives? Should he even be in charge of a gun?”
“You get used to it after a while,” Dougal said solemnly. “He saved Laura and Daisy in Brittany.”
“If he shoots anyone he is not supposed to, I shall have severe words with him,” Tom added.
Trelawney helped Cam to her feet while Dougal helped Tom.
Arnold felt his face go red. “I’m sorry about the woman, sir.”
Trelawney suppressed a smile at the contrite agent, “You were hardly the first to be taken by surprise by her. The world has just become a much safer place.”
“What now, sir?” Dougal asked.
“You and Thomas should board that amazing contraption of yours and check that the Queen has reached the Palace safely. The rest of us will see if we can figure out what the Brotherhood is up to.”
“I want to go with Tom and Dougal,” Cam said.
“You can barely walk, my dear. There will be time for reunions later.”
Cam sighed. Then she grinned. “Tell Laura I loved the cake gun.”
“Trelawney puts on the most interesting weddings,” Albert said as he settled down on the other side of the coach to his wife. His son sat on the other side and both men held guns in their hands.
“This could only happen in England. Perhaps we should visit Prussia for a long holiday,” the Queen countered.
“Scotland is easier to get to,” Albert pointed out.
“Yes, we should go to Scotland and heal some of the wounds Alistair McBride’s actions created. I shall talk to my secretary when we get home.”
The coach began to move away from the church and they all gave sighs of relief. In a few minutes they would be back in Buckingham Palace and safe.
Ross yelled to his men and the canvas cover was ripped off the charger. Tony got into the seat next to Ross while Brains and Ernie sat in the back. Tony had a set of binds that were nearly complete.
“Can you write binds like that?” Ross asked.
“I was taught how to do it by a chap named Snood. I would not want to try writing much when this thing is moving.”
Ross pushed a lever forward and the vehicle skidded as its metal wheels spun on the cobbles. Then they got sufficient traction and the Charger shot forward. The cavalry and coach had just gone past on the main road. There were people in the crowd in their way but Ross aimed the Charger into them and people screamed as they were crushed beneath its wheels. A splattering of blood came through the front viewing slit and Ross wiped it from his goggles.
“Taking out the cavalry behind the coach now,” Tony said as he completed a bind. Horses and men turned to sheep and goats, which the Charger crashed through.
The Queen’s coach could barely travel at twenty miles per hour safely. It reached twenty-five as the coachman looked back and saw the threat behind him.
“Taking out the snipers,” Tony said calmly as bullets began to ping on the Charger’s metal roof. The only sign that anything had happened was that the shooting stopped. On the roofs, goats struggled in military clothing.
“Now the Cavalry in front.” A third bind left cows where men and horses had been. The coachman had no choice but to bring the coach to a shuddering stop as they blocked the road.
Brains and Ernie opened the doors and Ross yelled at them.
“Not yet you fools.” A bullet from the coachman’s rifle pinged off the open door.
“I learned this one from Snood too.”
As the bind completed, the royal family and the coachmen collapsed into sleep.
“How long will the binds last?”
“Only a couple of minutes at most. We need to get moving.”
“You heard him,” Ross snarled and got out of the Charger. Tony stayed in the vehicle as the other three ran the few feet to the royal coach. They carried the Queen and Prince Albert over to the Charger and threw them in the back.
“Now Bertie,” Ross said to Ernie. “Injure him, but don’t kill him. It’s important.”
Ernie pulled the unconscious Prince out of the coach. His orders were to shoot the Prince in the leg, but he hated royalty and shot him in the gut. Bertie twitched, but remained asleep.
“Come on,” Ross yelled. Ernie ran back to the Charger. Ross pushed the velocity lever forward and turned the vehicle down the first side street.
“He’s going to shoot the Prince of Wales in the stomach,” Lucy said urgently. They heard the shot almost before her words finished.
“Handing command back to you,” Tom told Dougal. “Follow that thing and save the Queen. Edith, keep on tracking the Queen, do not lose her.”
Dougal clasped Tom’s hand. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
Tricky took the wheel as Tom kissed Laura and ran for the doors in the observation room. They were still speeding to the scene and were too high to jump even if stationary. Tom slid down a rope to dangle above the road. They were going far too fast for him to let go, but at least the fall would not kill him. As they approached the coach, Tom felt the propellers shift into reverse. The speed dropped dramatically and he let go, scraping his hands on the cobbles as he landed.
Tom ran to Bertie and put his hand on him. He heard yells coming from all directions as Bertie groaned. Tom let his talent loose and the world faded from his sight. Bertie was fatally injured with severe damage to his gut. As Tom tried to heal him he did not hear the yells from the newly restored cavalry men. He did not hear the orders for him to step away from the prince. He did not hear the sounds of triggers being cocked around him.
“They are going to the docks,” Lucy said. She gasped. “They are going to sink the coach in the Thames with the Queen and Prince Albert in it.”
Dougal tried to estimate how long it would take them to get to the docks. The vehicle ahead of them was travelling almost as fast as they were and they might not catch up in time.
“They are tying up the Queen and Albert now they are awake.”
“I could knock them unconscious?” Alice suggested.
“A crash at that speed would kill them all, Alice,” Dougal yelled. “We need to slow them down. Anybody have any ideas?”
Laura started scribbling. Down below, the met
al plate around the Charger began to peel off.
“I turned it into card,” Laura explained, “while leaving its frame intact.”
The Charger slowed as without the protection of the metal sides, wind buffeted the people inside.
As the metal of his vehicle impossibly peeled away, Ross took a quick glance to the rear and saw the Hubris behind them. His mouth fell open in shock and he nearly crashed the Charger.
“Tony, that thing in the sky behind us, destroy it.”
Tony turned and saw the Hubris. His paper for binds had scattered down the road when the sides of the charger came off, but he always kept spare paper in his jacket. He scribbled a bind.
The Hubris tilted forward on its axis and began to fall. On board, the crew became unconscious except for Laura. She grabbed at a piece of paper and followed it down to the front windows as the ship tilted to point at the ground.
Bertie opened his eyes; saw Tom sitting almost unconscious on his chest and his soldiers about to shoot. He reached up and hugged Tom, pulling him down to the ground. This made it impossible for the soldiers to shoot Tom without shooting the Prince.
“He’s a friend,” Bertie called out. “Don’t shoot him.”
The officer nearest the Prince gave him a peculiar look as the two men embraced in a manner more common for a man and a woman.
“He’s a Healer, you idiots. Put your guns down and help us get to our feet.”
Laura wrote the cleverest bind of her life as she saw the ground rushing towards her. The ship stopped abruptly and began to float upwards.
The Charger had reached the edge of the dock. Tony jumped up in pain as every piece of paper on him burst into flame. He patted at his pockets, trying to put half a dozen fires out at once.
The Queen and Prince Albert sat in the charger tied hand and foot. They looked on in astonishment as the man performed a jig in front of them.
Ross got out of the vehicle and adjusted its steering wheel so it would direct the vehicle forward and into the Thames. The tide was high and it would sink without trace through the water and into the mud of the river.
“You hope for a ransom from my government?” Victoria said sternly. “They will not pay it.”
“Sorry, your Majesty, but my orders are to kill you and make sure your bodies remain missing for some time.” Ross gave the Royal couple a deep bow. “God save the Queen,” he said mockingly, “because nobody else is going to.”
He pushed the lever forward and the Charger started moving towards the edge of the dock. Ross called on his men to follow him and they ran away from the dock, back towards the city streets.
Ross turned his head in time to see the charger plunge from the dock into the dirty waters below. He laughed as they reached the safety of an alley and began to make their way back to the rag and bone yard where the second Charger waited for them.
Tom was barely conscious as Bertie helped him into the coach.
“Do you know where my parents are?”
Tom shook his head. “Others… following them.”
The officer in charge stuck his head into the coach. “We have to get you back to the Palace and safety, your highness. That has to be our priority.”
Bertie nodded glumly. “Very well. Get on with it.”
As the coach began to move, Bertie shook Tom awake again. “I was most distressed to hear about Miss Young. You have my deepest sympathy.”
Tom fought his tiredness to reply. “Safe, following the Queen. Laura is hard to kill.”
Then he slumped over and, despite repeated attempts, the Prince of Wales could not wake him.
“I hope the bastards that did this are finding out what a Class A Spellbinder can do,” Bertie said quietly and he smiled grimly.
Trelawney shook Andrea violently. “What do you mean she’s unconscious? I need to know what is going on.”
“I cannot tell you. The girl, Lucy screamed that they were going to throw the Queen in the river and Miss Young did something to that strange vehicle that ripped its sides off and then everything went blank.”
“We should go after them. We know where the nearest docks are,” Belinda said calmly.
Trelawney grabbed his jacket. “If Kincaid was around we might be able to find out what has happened, but he seems to have disappeared. Let’s go to the docks and see if we can find them.”
“I have arranged for coaches to be waiting outside,” Belinda informed her husband.
Trelawney kissed her, “You think of everything, my dear. I knew there was a reason for marrying you.”
Baxter and Harris were back at the Military Magic Headquarters. Word of the events at the Queen’s coach had already reached them by telegraph.
“Now we put Scenario Blue into operation,” Baxter said and grinned with satisfaction. “Have you prepared the messages?”
Harris felt a great relief. This insane plan might actually work. “These are the orders emptying all the barracks in London of troops and reassigning them to search for the Queen. Everybody will be terrified that Bertie is going to die and endanger the succession, so it is doubtful that anyone will notice that we have also ordered all guards to leave the Tower of London to help with the search. The crown jewels will be unguarded tonight.”
“And they will be in the hands of the Brotherhood by morning,” Baxter said with delight. “On top of that, the one man who might figure it out is dead and I had the enormous pleasure of watching him die. It really does not get any better than this.”
26. Revelations
Tom and Bertie arrived at Buckingham Palace and were rushed to a state room whose windows overlooked the palace gardens. Tom had to be carried to the room as he was still exhausted.
The Royal Healer, a Grade 1 called Gilbert Smyth entered the room and ran to the Prince when he saw the amount of blood on his shirt and trousers. After a quick examination he stood back in astonishment when he discovered that the Prince’s skin was clean and unblemished, if a little pink and new looking.
“Tom has a special healing talent and it must not be discussed beyond this room. I owe him my life again, which is becoming an annoying habit,” Bertie explained.
“And the Queen and Prince Albert?” Smyth asked.
“Will be back soon. Gilbert listen, someone wanted me to be seriously injured, but not yet dead. I would like you to tell everybody that I am in that state.”
“But, your highness?”
“Tell everyone, trust no one. Go now and send in Major Tannis.”
Smyth left and a short time later a middle aged man entered the room, even though he out of uniform he was unmistakably of military bearing and training.
“What is happening? Where are the Queen and Prince Albert?” Tannis spoke rapidly in a clipped tone.
“Kidnapped, I was left gut shot and dying.”
Tannis’s eyebrows rose. “You appear to be in remarkably good condition for a gut shot man, if I may say so, your highness.”
Bertie waved at Tom, who lay slumped on a chaise longe. “Tom is much more than he seems. He was the Healer at Hobsgate last year.”
Tannis nodded; there were rumors about what happened at Hobsgate that he had not believed. Now might be a good time to re-evaluate them.
“I will go and help coordinate the rescue, your highness.”
“No. I have reason to believe my parents rescue is already in hand. I need you to go and find Sir Ernest Trelawney and find out what he knows. And do not reveal to anyone that I am healed. Let whoever did this think their plans are going to schedule.”
“Reports are that Sir Ernest was killed at his wedding.”
“The reports are wrong. Find Trelawney. If anyone knows what is going on, it will be him.”
Major Tannis saluted smartly and left the room.
The Hubris floated upwards to safety. Laura kissed the bind in her hand. It was directed at the Spellbinder who had attacked the ship and should have destroyed all his binds and any paper in his vicinity. The partial binds she ha
d written were scattered across the floor of the bridge and she picked them up, searching for her second invisibility bind. Only one more word was required to make the ship invisible and she scribbled it down.
“Try and kill us now,” she whispered at her Spellbinder enemy. “I dare you.”
“Laura, what has happened?” Dougal asked. He had woken leaning against the chart table. Since it was screwed into the deck it was still in place.
“We were attacked by a Spellbinder,” Daisy answered. “Laura countered it.”
Tricky spun the wheel to direct the Hubris towards the dock. “Never mind that, look over there.”
“The Queen is on that thing,” Edith shouted.
“They are going to drown.” Lucy added, somewhat unnecessarily.
A half a mile away, in bright London sunshine, the remains of the Charger sped towards the lip of the dock.
Laura started scribbling. Lucy increased the airship’s speed to full and everybody watched in horror as the Charger reached the edge of the dock and drove off into the water.
“Laura?” Dougal asked.
Laura bit her lip. “I don’t know. It was a difficult bind. We have to get over the edge and look to see what happened.”
Baum entered the bridge. He had a bloody handkerchief over his nose.
“Antonia is injured. I cannot wake her.”
Laura looked around. “I thought she was on the bridge?”
Baum shrugged. “I think she came back to tell Ebenezer and Jeremiah something. I woke with a broken nose and found her with a head injury.”
The Hubris reached the dock and flew over it to the River Thames beyond. A few yards from the edge of the dock the Charger bobbed on the water. The Queen and Albert could be seen struggling against their bonds.
“The bind will only last a few minutes,” Laura said breathlessly. “It’s not easy to convince the universe that steel is lighter than balsa wood.”
Dougal thought about the problem. He considered it would be easier to pull them back to the dock from the dock rather than bring the airship down to them. “Put us down on dock, Tricky. Franz, get Jeremiah, we have the Queen and Prince Albert to rescue.”
